 Oh, anybody here? Richard, that high back chair. There's someone sitting in it. All you can see is his hand and wrist resting on the arm of the chair with a burning cigarette between the fingers. He must be asleep. Why don't you wait a minute? Wait a minute. The cigarette. It's burned down to the man's fingers. Oh, well... Whoever that is over there, he's dead. Did you read it, sir? Oh, I see. Oh, uh... Are you the innkeeper? I'm sorry. I was so long, sir. I was sure I ended these days. I was outside. Couldn't call me any sooner. There's a dead man over there. What was that? A dead man sitting right over there in that chair. Well, he's gone. But Richard... Did you say a dead man, sir? Yes. He was sitting there in that chair. He was there. My wife and I both saw him. He must have been the shadow from the fire, sir. I say, come here, will you? Are you looking for Lodgy? What is it, dear? Come over here. All right. There was someone here. Certainly there was. We both saw him. Look. They're on the floor, but they aren't in that chair. A burning cigarette? Yes. The one we saw burning in the dead man's hand. Yes. I say, innkeeper, come over here. Oh, I didn't see your followers. Look. We saw the man from over at the desk. All we could see was his arm in hand with a cigarette between his fingers. That's the cigarette down there. Still burning. And it was burning the man's fingers. I'm sure you both mistaken, sir. There's been no one here in the lobby. It was merely the shadows from the fireplace. Then how do you account for that burning cigarette there on the floor? One of the guests probably dropped it, sir, by accident before retiring. But I tell you, there was someone sitting in this chair. Then, since he's not here now, it may have been the aunt. The aunt? Yes, miss. Folks call him the ghost of the Paganama. No, come now. Don't start any nonsense about ghosts. His name was Trafalgar. First or last, I don't know which. No one remembers. He built this old wayside inn more than 200 years ago. There it is, girl. He did just after it was finished. The night he moved in, he was murdered in cold blood by one of the girl's rejected swines. Killed Trafalgar for revenge he did right here in this room while his honor was smoking his last smoke before retiring. Then it was the ghost. Could have been, miss. Could have been. Folks claim they see him every now and then, though I can't say I has. I say, look. Yes, Governor? There on the back of that chair. Isn't that a spot of blood? Well, no, I don't rightly know, sir, but yes. I believe you're right, Governor. The man was stabbed in the back. He was through art. Seems that spot there would be just about where he would leave blood behind. Or is he to sit in this chair here? Oh, Richard, let's go. So you've seen him, too. Well, that makes three times this month. Seems likely to make him quite a habit of busting a slight. Shall we go, dear? Yes, and Lee, right away. Will you two be walking the room for the night? Oh, no. No, we're looking for a place called Merivale. Merivale, yes. Yes, we thought we had the right directions from Erfenshire, but we ended up here. We seem to have lost the way. Oh, no, Governor, you just haven't gone far enough. Merivale lies about 20 kilometers to the west. How far is that in miles? About 12, 13. Then let's go on, Richard. We can make it in 20 minutes. Your old is not so good, Miss. Take probably 45 instead of 20. Besides, Merivale hasn't been occupied for nine or six years. You say it hasn't? Oh, no, sir. But we understood it had been occupied by a Ms. Priscilla Longacre. Yes. Ms. Longacre died about four months ago and left Merivale a state to me. When I managed to clean up my affairs in Madrid, we came up to retire and live on the estate. I was with a British concern in Spain. Now I've resigned and come up here. Till I got that message, I didn't even know I had an aunt living in England. You say our nine was Priscilla Longacre? That's right. She died late in December, day or so after Christmas. Priscilla Longacre has been dead for five years. What? Indeed she has, Governor. At least folks like that. Five years ago, she telephoned here to the inn she did and asked for Dr. Eiley. He answered the call and found her dead. So he come back to make a report. But when the authorities got to the place, the body was gone. Some say it was stolen. Some say the old lady become a zombie. Anyways, she was never seen again. And Mary then was closed up because nobody know it was kin to the old lady. But that's impossible. I was notified early in January of her death. In notified, you governor? Well, the man you just spoke of, Dr. Eiley. You couldn't have been notified by him, governor. Why not? Because he died two days before Priscilla Longacre. But I have his letter. No, have you now, sir? Well, yes, of course. Outside in my car. He said he would meet me at Mary Vale tonight. Then maybe you're going to see another ghost before the night is finished. Air governor? Richard, please, let's go. Yes, dear, right away. Now look here, innkeeper. Is what you've been telling us the truth? Tell us, is the truth, governor? Why would I be telling you things that aren't true, huh? Then there hasn't been anyone living in Mary Vale for five years. Dr. Eiley has been dead that long, too. That's the gospel truth, governor. You'll see so for yourself when you get there. Well, that's where we're going. You say it's about 12 miles. About that, governor. We'll come to a fork just around the turn of a wave. Tight the left one. The other goes to London. Right. Come along, Emily. Yes, dear. If you need anything, my name is Jison. You can telephone here if you like. Just ask for the paper, ma'am. Yeah, all right. Thank you very much. They say this wind's strong. Come up in the last few minutes. Richard. Yes, dear. Did you notice that man's hand? The right one? No, dear, I didn't. Why? There were deep, angry burns on top of his forefinger in the middle one. Like burns a cigarette would make. It seems deserted. Thank heaven that wind stops. Oh, Mary Vale is in a small valley. Doesn't blow much here. Look at the windows on the house. All boarded up. And so is the door. Looks weird in the moonlight, doesn't it? Richard, is there a hammer in the car? No, I don't think so. What? Well, you'll need one if we're going to get inside the place. That's right. Those boards seem tightly nailed. There might be something in that shed. Where? Behind us. Oh. Yeah, sure. Come on. Let's have a look. Look. It's not nailed up. What? The door is hanging open. Mm-hmm. Yes, dear. We're not alone out here. What? I feel it. Someone's watching us. Maybe it's the cigarette smoking ghost of the inn. Darling, I'm serious. I feel someone watching us. You know, if I were the uneasy type, you'd scare me half to death. I mean it. I'm frightened. Oh, come now, darling. I think we'd better go back to that town where we stopped for dinner. Nothing doing. I wouldn't brave that road again for anything. Come on, here's the shed. Still got the matches I gave you? Yes, but let's don't go inside, please. Why not? I just don't want to. But we've got to find something to break away those boards from the door up at the house. Come on. I've got the candle. Wish I had a flashlight. Richard, don't. It's all right, dear. How about a match? Richard, come on, come on. Give me a match. All right. Here. Good. There should be an old length of pipe or something in here we can use. Candle lit. Would you hold it here while I look around? Richard, what's that? Hm? Over there in the corner. Those black boxes. Boxes? Oh. Richard, they're coffins. Coffins? Oh, nonsense. They are. They're painted solid black. Look. Three little silver handles. Maybe right. Three handles on this side, too. They are coffins, Richard. Yes. Yes, they are. New ones. What in the world are they doing out here? Let me have the candle. Look. Aren't those silver inscription plates on the lids? That's what I want to look at. Here now. There. Richard, I'm frightened. This plate says Richard Longaker. And the other one, Emily Longaker. Died May 15, 1942. Well, that's today. Richard! The light. Emily, what happened? The wind blew out the candle. Richard, is that you? What? Is that you moving about in here? No, I'm not moving. I thought it was you. Here, where are you? He's not here. She's gone. Here's someplace. Has to be here someplace. Must have light. Who's that? Is that Richard Longaker? Yes. And Kevin. Who are you? Quiet. Don't let him hear you talking. Who are you? Can you get a light going? Yes. I found the candle. People got a match. No one here. No one in the shed but myself. The door is closed now. Good. The lid on that coffin. Moving. Something inside pushing it up. Slowly pushing the lid up. Pushing it up. Don't stand there looking like a stupid country pupkin. Take this lid so I can get out of this cursed casket. Who are you? How did you get in there? Will you take this lid, you fool? Sure. Let me out. Sure. Give me your hand. How long were you in that thing? Oh, even on that night. Hours before you and your wife came into the shed. My wife? Where is she? I have a pretty good idea. Where is she? I'd rather imagine he's got her. He? Who? He's stuffy in that box. Who? Where is my wife? My very fool. He comes back and finds me here. Who are you? Tell me what you know. My name is Warren Highley. Highley? Yes. Dr. Highley, the one who sent you the notice of your aunt's death. Good. He said you were dead. He? The young keeper. Oh. Jason? Yeah. That was his name, Jason. I'd rather imagine he wouldn't tell you I'm dead. You see, he thinks he accused me. What? Yes. Five years ago, he lured me out here to attend to the archival of Medivale. Priscilla Longica. My aunt? Yes. I found the woman dying. Someone had attempted to murder her. Someone did. I couldn't save her life. The innkeeper? Exactly. He attacked me, left me for dead, but I recovered. I hid the body of the dead woman and found a place to hide myself. But why? Why what? Why did you hide out? Why didn't you return and accuse the innkeeper of murder? I had no proof. Besides, I was always devoted to Miss Longica. I wanted to find that motive behind the crime. I did not know it would take five years to do so. What was the motive? It's not a novel one. Jason wants to buy Medivale, because somewhere on this property are buried more than three tons of silver. Silver? Yes. It's brought to England from France during the Revolution. Its owners were captured and executed and the silver finally became a legend. But now I have discovered it. Here? On this property? Indeed, yes. Would you like to see it? Now, look here. I'm not interested in silver until I find my wife. Where is she? I think I can take you to her. Well, then suppose you've got about doing it. You must be most careful. Yeah, hold the light over here for sure. Yeah, help move this straw outside. Hey, hey, careful of the flame. I'm going to open it. Give me the light. You go first. I'll follow. Careful. Careful at the bottom. There's a quick one. I am pit just a few feet from the bottom of the ladder. I am pits over there. It's my wife, Emily. Emily. Oh, Richard. Oh, darling. Are you all right? Yes, I guess so. What happened? I don't know. Light went out, and you disappeared. Who's that? Oh, Dr. Highly, dear. The one who sent us the notice of Aunt Priscilla's death. Dr., my wife. Pleasure, Mrs. Longacre. Where are we? This is a chamber beneath the old shin. I discovered it the day Priscilla was murdered five years ago. I brought her here. Can you get up, Mrs. Longacre? Yes, I think so. Here, dear, I'll help you. I must have fallen down here. Will you come this way, please? Can you walk down? Yes, I'm all right. Over here, if you please. All right. Under the heavy glass. Look, body of an old woman. She was Priscilla Longacre. I've kept her here all these years until I could get the entire Longacre clan together. Now you are together. Good for this day. Five years I've waited. Richard. Look here, Dr. Highly. Jason. Thank you, pal. Watch them closely. Jason, I'll watch them, Dr. Longacre. You, Dr. Highly. You told me Jason wants to buy a Mary Vale. It's you who wants to buy it. You'll never repeat that to anyone, Mr. Longacre. Lies. Never think you've told me nothing but lies. Who killed my aunt? It took me five years to locate her only living relative, you, Richard Longacre. And now that you are here, Mary Vale will soon be mine. But you can't murder that. One will ever find either of you in the limepit. Oh, no. No. Your coffins are prepared up above there. Tomorrow there will be a funeral, but your bodies will not be in the casket. All right, Richard. Do I give my pie now, doctor? Oh, yes, Jason. Of course. Here. Oh! You killed it. No such luck. Well, they rendered him unconscious. He'll never retain consciousness. What are you going to do with him? The lamb before that shortwight of him. Oh, no. No. Give back. Do we go on him soon enough? We'll go and do that. Oh, wait. Stop. You go into that pit, and I'll prove you down here through the trapdoor up there. It was you up there. Crawling into that coffin and pretending the hide was all a lot of sham to lure me down here. Now, look here. I demand that you release us. You have no position to demand anything. Your aunt is next, and you will follow her. And I warn you, this gun I have is loaded. What are you going to do? We already go to the pit next. No, Richard. Let her alone. Oh, no, I... Put the twatty down. Hey, make. I'll shoot her become nearer. Richard, don't. You've done enough, highly. Strike back. Put her down. Oh, she's going into the pit. Put her down, I say. Richard, come back. You devil. Didn't you, doctor? No. No, no, no. Get down. You killed half the keeping me here, oh. You didn't kill me, doctor. No, stop. Let me go. Let me go. You didn't kill me. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Tonight's original tale of dark fantasy by Scott Bishop. Alf Daniels was heard as Richard Longacre. Eleanor Naylor-Coran was Emily. Fred Wayne played Dr. Highley. Georgiana Cook was the old woman. And Muir Hyte was Jason. Next Friday at this time, one of the most unusual of all dark fantasy adventures created for you by Scott Bishop. Reaching, or pictures of the production Dead Hands Reaching and of the dramatic staffs of Dark Fantasy, as well as for vivid and exciting picturizations of next Friday's story Dead Hands Reaching, we call your attention to the two-page story appearing in the magazine Movie Radio Guide, dated tomorrow May 16th. And now this is Tom Paxton reminding you to buy United States war bonds and stamps. The fantasy comes to you each Friday night from Oklahoma State. This is the National Broadcasting Company.